LSC-Online wins international award

Published on: June 21, 2010

(June 7, 2010) – Lone Star College-Online has again received international recognition by winning the Leadership Award for Best in Class at the IMS Global Learning Consortium’s Learning Impact Award competition that was held May 20 in Long Beach, Calif.

LSC-Online received the best in class award for its Virtual Teaching and Learning Assistance Centers submission.

“We are thrilled to again be acknowledged by this international organization for the great work that we’re doing,” said William Durham, associate vice chancellor of LSC-Online.

These Virtual Teaching and Learning Assistance Centers are on-demand communication portals designed to provide just-in-time training, resources and support for online faculty and students at LSCS.

“Students have access to dedicated online advisors and personal academic assistance – both intended to encourage student retention and to bolster student success,” said Durham.

The Virtual Teaching Assistance Center was launched by LSC-Online in October 2009 as the faculty support center. This center provides access to a skilled LSC-Online staff member, scheduling with an instructional designer, plus access to online tutorials and other instructional support materials, all with an instant chat function through the learning management tool – ANGEL.

Durham pointed out that since the inception of the VTAC, LSC-Online has fulfilled more than 2,100 chat requests from Lone Star College System faculty, and provided more than 445 hours of online support to assist these instructors.

The Virtual Learning Assistance Center for LSC-Online students is being piloted this summer as the student support center.

The IMS Global Learning Consortium is a global, nonprofit group that strives to enable the growth and impact of learning technology in the education and corporate learning sectors worldwide. The 2010 Learning Impact Recognition, which LSC-Online was awarded, is a non-medal leadership competition in the research and development category for new initiatives.

The awards by IMS Global Learning Consortium are designed to recognize the most impactful use of technology worldwide in support of learning and the program evaluates use of technology by its ability to improve educational access, affordability and quality.

The consortium includes attendance of global leaders from six continents and more than 20 countries.

LSC-Online, the online learning division for LSCS, had 29,886 enrollments in online and hybrid classes in the spring 2010 semester, which represents a 35 percent increase over spring 2009.

With more than 62,000 students in credit classes in spring 2010, and a total enrollment of nearly 85,000, Lone Star College System is the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area, and the second largest and the fastest-growing community college system in Texas. LSCS consists of five colleges including LSC-CyFair, LSC-Kingwood, LSC-Montgomery, LSC-North Harris, and LSC-Tomball, six centers, LSC-University Park, LSC-University Center at Montgomery, LSC-University Center at University Park, Lone Star Corporate College, and LSC-Online. To learn more visit LoneStar.edu.